Basic system

[RainMaker]

1. This sucker is for my mother-in-law and she will use it for internet/email and photo editing. Not hardcore manipulation but touch-ups, croping, etc, etc. She does however ue Photoshop to accomplish this. (I know like cutting a sandwhich with a tablesaw, but it's what she knows.)

2. Tight around $800 for the rig.

3.

4. No MSI.I

5. All new.

6. yeppers...just looking for some thoughts on the system proposed.

7. default only

8. Very Soon.

Proposal:

• Cooler Master Elite 330 Chassis, Black
• Intel Pentium® Dual-Core Processor E5200 2.50 GHz w/ 2MB Cache
• eVGA nForce 730i / e-Geforce 9300 w/ DDR2 800 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, PCI-E 2.0, HDMI
• Mushkin EM2-6400 Enhanced DDR2 SDRAM, 4GB Dual Pack (2 x 2GB)
• Samsung 1TB SpinPoint F1 7200rpm SATA II w/ 32MB Cache
• LG Super Multi Security DVD Writer 22x, SATA, Black (OEM)
• Corsair CMPSU-400CX 400 Watt w/ 120mm Fan
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic x64 (64-bit) DVD w/ SP1, OEM, 1-Pack

Thanks in advance for your input.

~RainMaker

[cadaveca]

I'd look at a dualcore ATOM rig, with XP, personally.

[KeepSix]

Something to consider: Photoshop works more efficiently with a separate "scratch" drive. You could get two smaller ones, instead of the monster.

[RainMaker]

yeah...but couldn't I just partion the monster into two? Or is it still the same 'guts' doing the work? Would the speed difference be that noticeable?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

I'd look at a dualcore ATOM rig, with XP, personally.

How so? And it seems Vista is easier to find these days and is slightly more future proof wouldn't you say?

[cadaveca]

Sure, but based on the needs you stated, teh lower power consumption of an ATOM rig will save cash in the long run(33w for the entire platform, minus drives). Of course, you give up a bit of performance(1.6ghz dual), so I recommend the OS that has lower overhead...and I love the small system-size...but ATOM 330 is not quite enough for Vista + photoshop. Check out how small shuttle's version is:

Shuttle X27D dual-core Atom desktop PC ? Register Hardware

Or Dell's version:

Dell OptiPlex 160 Desktop

Now, note that I said look, not buy. I am still unsure on this platform, but it does pose a very interesting option for those not needing a high-power machine...

[Iamcanadian7]

An ATOM might be stretched a little thin running photoshop, though I could be wrong. However you are definetly going to want to go with XP, Vista will be an unnecessary hog on that system.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Iamcanadian7

Vista will be an unnecessary hog on that system.

Not to disagree ('cause I don't really know), but how do you figure? I am running 64x Vista right now on the same chip with 4GB of RAM and everything seems good to me. Or is it the on-board video that's going to slow things down?

[cadaveca]

He's talking about the ATOM rig.

[RainMaker]

oops. I'll try to keep up now.